The Global Search for Education: New Film Focuses on How to Get Thinking Back in Classrooms

The Global Search for Education (GSE) is a regular contributor to the Edmodo Blog. Authored by C.M. Rubin, GSE brings together distinguished thought leaders in education and innovation from around the world to explore the key learning issues faced by today’s nations. Look for a new post every week and join the Global Search for Education Community on Edmodo to share your perspectives with their editorial staff.

“The fact that we even have to make the argument that thinking should be the most important aspect of school culture proves that we have gotten very far away from teaching young people how to become successful adults.” — Rachel Ferro

RE:THINKING is a thought-provoking new documentary film about learning that looks at innovative education approaches practiced by 3 public schools in the United States (Green Hills School, Bard High School/Early College, and Lehman Alternative Community School). Co-Director Rachel Ferro says she hopes the film might be the “beginning of a movement to get thinking back into classrooms.”

Creativity and how we construct meaning from knowledge are competencies that are highly rewarded in the today’s world. So, what happens when teachers and students are “empowered to build knowledge instead of memorized information”? Ferro and her co-director Deborah Hoard focused on US public schools which seek to create a “culture of intellectual life” and to respect “the whole child as a learner and as an adult in training.” Rachel Ferro joins us in The Global Search for Education to talk more about RE:THINKING.

Rachel, what inspired you to makeRE:THINKING?

Deborah and I were inspired to make this film for different reasons at first, but as time went on we realized that the inspiration came down to the need for hope for the future of public schools. I myself had a very unfortunate middle and high school experience. I was one of the kids who fell through the cracks and barely earned my diploma. I felt I was not seen or known by the majority of my teachers. Deborah had a different experience. She knew how to “do school.” She earned good grades and was therefore recognized as a “good student.”

When I first started working on this film I didn’t have any children. I was moved by Deborah’s story about her five-year-old grandson who at the time was being disciplined for not being able to sit still in kindergarten, but my own perspective was limited. Over the four-year process of making the film, I became a parent. That is when my perspective drastically changed. I now had a son who would eventually go through the system. That was extremely energizing and powerful for me.

“When students at a young age are learning about how they think, they are able to think in more accurate, creative and systematic ways.” — Rachel Ferro

Your movie discusses the importance of raising citizens. How is Citizenship education defined by the US public schools you studied? Do you think they have a model that other schools can learn from?

The future of our society depends on the creativity and competence of the young people who are currently making their way through our public schools. Being an informed and active citizen is crucial when it comes to the future of American democracy. We certainly believe that other schools can learn deeply from all three models.

Green Hills School is a K-8 school in rural New Jersey that is doing exceptional things with teaching meta-cognition using a systems thinking model known as DSRP. When students at a young age are learning about how they think, they are able to think in more accurate, creative and systematic ways.

Lehman Alternative Community School in Ithaca, New York bases its culture in democratic education, which sees young people as active co-creators of their own learning rather than passive recipients of knowledge. Rather than being the product of a system, they are valued members of a vibrant community.

Students at Bard High School Early College are doing college work when they reach 11th & 12th grade age. They are encouraged to question assumptions, engage in debate and value their own voices as well as those of their peers. The ambition of these students is taken seriously and their courses nurture critical thinking through writing, inquiry and discourse. They graduate with an associates degree from Bard College which includes 60 transferable college credits.

“We think being good at school should mean asking questions instead of memorizing answers, following through with a thought until you’ve exhausted all possibilities, understanding how you think about things and using that knowledge for the purpose of building new knowledge rather than just consuming information.” — Rachel Ferro

What do you believe being “good at school” means today and what do you believe it should mean instead?

We believe being “good at school” means knowing how to play the game of school. This teaches young people that if you just follow the rules you’ll be successful. We think being good at school should mean asking questions instead of memorizing answers, following through with a thought until you’ve exhausted all possibilities, understanding how you think about things and using that knowledge for the purpose of building new knowledge rather than just consuming information.

Artificial Intelligence is changing the world. Kids need to be creators of knowledge versus consumers of information. How do the teachers in these schools handle this shift?

The teachers in the three schools featured in RE:THINKING are very aware that there is no way to predict exactly what students will need to know, but what they are also aware of is that they will need to be flexible, able to work collaboratively, be comfortable with experimentation and able to embrace and embody what it means to be a lifelong learner.

“When a student is used to being meta-cognitive, they can take ownership over their own learning process. That alone is extremely empowering and leads to much deeper understanding of whatever it is they are learning about.” — Rachel Ferro

A child in your film notes, “When we are adults we’re going to be different from the adults we know now.” Do you believe children should have more say in their learning?

We absolutely do believe young people should have a say in their learning. Students are motivated by what interests them. We of course need to make sure education is well-rounded, but not to the extreme of depriving students of learning about the things that truly inspire them. The film talks about “transfer of knowledge” and how valuable it is when a student can take what they learn in science and apply it to their social studies class or their math class. When a student is used to being meta-cognitive, they can take ownership over their own learning process. That alone is extremely empowering and leads to much deeper understanding of whatever it is they are learning about.

“You can change a lot with one idea” – that’s very true but often the real challenge (especially in education) is in scaling a good idea. What lessons have you learned and how would you suggest this is done?

We are filmmakers and not educators. but what we’ve learned over the course of making this film is that in this country, a traditional education does not encourage thinking, instead it encourages conforming to a system that doesn’t value the individual child and completely misses the point when it comes to learning. The fact that we even have to make the argument that thinking should be the most important aspect of school culture proves that we have gotten very far away from teaching young people how to become successful adults.

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